You need to strip and acid wash the whole thing. I cant belive I do all this work for Ken>>get the rad system from www.restore-a-deck.comThe problem is painter guys and for the most part general contractors have no idea about deck finish,or decks all together really. They just go to the paint store and buy whatever they recomend.

I vote keep the money and dont use them again to finish the deck. They probley will do fine painting a house but a deck surface is a whole nother smoke. J

Thanks, John -- you nailed it when you say that painters just take whatever the paint store gives them. Hopefully others can learn from my mistake!

I guess I have a contrary opinion on the solid redwood stain. I have a small vacation home in the Brazos Cliffs area of New Mexico. Elevation 7500 feet, 90 inches of snow in an average year, monsoon seasons for two months in the summer and outrageous doses of UV year round. I am just a Walmart/HomeDepot kind of guy. When I bought the property 6 years ago the detached garage/shop had very heavy discoloration of cedar siding below the snow level, was cracking badly and looked on its last legs. I ran a horizontal 1x4 of cedar around the structure just about a foot above snow line and stained with then available 3/5 year Behr semi-transparent cedar above the 1x4 and Behr solid cedar stain below. Currently the solid stain looks as good as when I put it down. The semi-transparent is also in not bad condition except for the new cedar rail I installed on the west-facing side...not bad, and I really like the color pairing of solid and semi-transparent. At the same time we stained the deck and rails with just semi-transparent 3/5 redwood. At year three, the deck was clearly in need of staining, but I put it off until this spring from general laziness. The vertical surfaces at year 5 or 6 were in need of restaining from upclose appearance, but looked fine from the road. The product seemed to me to meet its projected longevity goals as advertised.

This spring I decided it was time to stain the house and again used the Behr stains. The house, snow-shedding deck cover columns and beams, and vertical supports of the railing for 800 sf of deck are in semi-transparent redwood 5/8 yr and the deck and horizontal hand rail surfaces are in the solid 10/25 yr redwood stain. I really like the color combination and expect long service from the solid stain. We did the 15-min surface treatment prior to staining, but nothing special beyond that. No bubbling, no stickiness, no problems at all. Yes the solid is a bit orangey, but the combination of semi and solid looks justs as attractive as we found it to be on the garage years before. Obviously color tastes vary, but I think using solid stain in high stress applications can be a great labor savings in the long run. I wouldn't want my whole house in the solid stain color, but with the house freshly stained in semi-transparent, I find the solid stain to provide a classy-looking trim effect on the horiontal features of the deck. In a couple of years I plan to stain the garage redwood too, but there is no rush--the stain is holding up just fine for now.

nice perspective drjhigg. I like solid stains as well, where appropriate.

As as contractor, I just love this line from the above thread: "....stupid bozos.... The problem is painter guys and for the most part general contractors have no idea about deck finish,or decks all together really. They just go to the paint store and buy whatever they recomend."

I mean really, who are you kidding. Painters and contractors deal with paint and stain everyday and for, whom I would assume to be, a homeowner, who is farming out the job, to make such a comment clearly shows their lack knowledge about contractors. It does no good for contractors to waste time or burn bridges with clients.

The first thing any contractor who has been in the business for more than a couple of years will tell you, is to avoid BEHR at all costs. "See a bear in the woods, wait then run.... see a Behr in Home Depot, just run...."

To be VERY clear, the client should pick the color and purchase the material to be used. Many contractors request this on paint and stain jobs to avoid issues like this. As a homeowner, you should be responsible for your color and material choices especially, if you don't trust "stupid bozos" like us contractors......

GC-18 years in the business

"To be VERY clear, the client should pick the color and purchase the material to be used"

I agree with the color, of course, but when it comes to materials, im not going to let a customers choice of sub par materials ,(if they choose something like behr), have a snow balls chance in hell of tarnishing my reputation unless it is stated in the contract that they are responsible for it. If they absolutely insist on their product choice, that's the route i take by getting it in writing.

You dig up a 2 year old thread to bi*ch and moan.

Get a life.

The same thing happened to me! Same color and all. What was the out come?

Not all painters are familiar with stains.Depends on what they specialize in. That said mine used a solid color stain instead ,because she couldn't get rings from paint cans out of the wood. Color wasn't right either. The sample that she when't by would have worked,but was not the same in the can. Ihad her get them to add a little more green,problem solved. Problem now is the surface picks up every speck of dirt when walked on. Solid stain is water based. Apparently it has raised the grain of the wood. This a new covered porch with a tonge & grove floor. Am I correct in thinking I will need to sand floor & put something like exterior Varathane on it for durability ?

You are correct the finish will have to be removed.

Never use " exterior " varathane on an outdoor project.

JonMon

michele, we used a flat floor sander that we rented to do our deck. Do it every time we restain. I just wanted to warn you not to layer oil based stain with water based. This can lead to real problems if the water based is below the oil I believe. Someone here should know or go to painting forum.

How did it turn out. We are in this position now. They used Behr (they usually used valspar but changed right before our deck - ugh!)